PHOENIX – Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced today Arizona joined with 46 other states and the District of Columbia in an $18.5 million settlement with the Target Corporation to resolve the states' investigation into the retail company's 2013 data breach. This is the largest multistate data breach settlement to date.
“In this day and age, it’s vital that companies take every precaution to protect their customer’s personal information from cyber attacks,” said Attorney General Mark Brnovich. “We will continue to investigate data breaches and work to help protect hardworking Arizonans from all forms of identity theft.”
The states' investigation found cyber attackers accessed Target's gateway server through credentials stolen from a third-party vendor in November 2013. The credentials were then used to exploit weaknesses in Target's system, which allowed the attackers to access a customer service database; to install malware on the system and to capture data, including consumer data comprised of full names, telephone numbers, email addresses and mailing addresses; payment card numbers, expiration dates and CVV1 codes; and encrypted debit PINs.
The breach affected more than 41 million customer payment card accounts and contact information for more than 60 million customers.
In addition to the monetary payment to the states, the settlement agreement requires Target to develop, implement and maintain a comprehensive information security program and to employ an executive or officer who is responsible for executing the plan. The company is required to hire an independent, qualified third-party to conduct a comprehensive security assessment.
The settlement further requires Target to maintain and support software on its network; to maintain appropriate encryption policies, particularly as it pertains to cardholder and personal information data; to segment its cardholder data environment from the rest of its computer network; and to undertake steps to control access to its network, including implementing password rotation policies and two-factor authentication for certain accounts.
Arizona will receive $312,756 from the settlement. In addition to Arizona, and led by Connecticut and Illinois, other states participating in this settlement include Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia and the District of Columbia.